Conveyer stop mechanism



Oct. 11, 1932. N E 1,ss2,43s

CONVEYER STOP MECHANI SM Filed Jan. 9. 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet "1 :51 .1 i it f9 7 if 14 H readily Patented Oct. 11, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE JULIUS J. MOJ'ONNIER, OE OAK PARK, ILLINOIS, ASSIGN 'OR TO MOJ'ONNIER BROS. CO.,

A CORPORATION or ILLINOIS coNv YER s'ror MECHANISM The present invention relates to conveyer stop mechanisms of the class wherein articles being conveyed along agiven path may be stopped and separated sli htly so as to be taken from the conveyer by an attendant.

The invention has been worked out in con nection with the handling of bottle cases and will therefore be described in that connec- 5 tion'. ,Such cases usually are in box form monly used for this purpose. WVhen the ends of adjacent cases fit snugly together in this way, it is almost impossible to'grasp the ends with vertical end Wallswhich tend to fit snugly against each other as the cases travel along in the conveyer especially where the latter is of the dragtype a type now comof a case by the hand-holds formedther ein. It is therefore a diflicult task to remove a case from the conveyer, although in. many kinds of work this is quite desirable and in other kinds absolutely necessary. I Even though a conveyer which is not of the drag type be employed, still the objectionable close fitting of ends may occur.

In carrying out my invention, I preferably provide a stop in the path of travel of the conveyer. Then when the articles being conveyed are advanced so that the foremost engages the stop, its rear end is separated from the forward end of the next article so that the foremost article may be readily grasped and removed from the conveyer. Preferably this separation of the adjacent I portions (if the first two articles is brought about by elevating the path of their travel at the point where the two articles come together when one of them engages the stop. Thus while the forward end of the first article engages the stop, its rear end is elevated above the level of the forward end. In the preferred embodiment the track or floor of" the conveyer is humped up at the'point where the first and second articles contact and con- "sequently the forward end of the second ar ticle is elevated the same as the rear end of the first article. cases, such as I have referred to, havingtheir ends slotted to pro-videhand-holds, then the rear end of the first case and the front end of If the articles be box-like,

the second case are moved apart at their tops I to leave the hand-holds exposed for use;

Since no obstructing case is found in advance of the first case, 1. e. the one againstthe stop, both hand-holds ofthe first case are available to the attend ant and that case can be readily accompanying drawings wherein the different forms of the invention are illustrated. For a measure of the invention reference should be had tothe appended claims.

In said drawings, Fig. 1 is a plan view of a portion of a conveyer having a stopmechanism constructed in accordance With the; present invention; Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same; Fig. 3 is a side elevation of a portion of the structure of Fig. 2 illustrating a modified stop member; Fig. 4 is a-diagrammatic View illustrating an additional conveyer upon which the articles freed from the stop may be placed Fig. 5'is an end elevationof the structure of Fig. 1; Fig. 6 is a transverse vertical section of the same taken on a plane indicated by the line 66 of- Fig. 1; Fig. 7 is a detailed section through the stop roller of the preferred structure, the plane of section being indicated by the line 77 of Fig. 2; Fig. 8 is a vertical longitudinal section of the structure of Fig. 1, the plane of section being indicated by the line 88 of l; and Fig. 9 is a diagram siniilar to Fig. 4 illustrating the stop mechanism in association with a single conveyer for de if livering the articles to the stop and receiving 'to the vertical portions of certain of the yokes 11 by screw bolts 14 or like means. The yokes 11 may be variously secured to the side members 10. In the present instance screw bolts 15 perform this function. The feet '13 may be adjusted with reference to the legs 12 to suit irregularities in the floor upon which the conveyer is set and the different pairs of legs 12 are each spaced andlaterally braced by a transverse rod 15 having positioning nuts 15, clamping blocks 15 and retaining nuts 15 7 In the particular embodiment shown in Fig. 1, the yoke members 11 are reinforced by additional longitudinal members 16 which extend between the two pairs of legs 12 illustrated. In this case bolts 17 secure the parts together. Besides'having the side members 10 the conveyor frame has metal strips set on edge which serve. as guides 18 for the cases 19 which the conveyer is designed to carry. Obviously, these bottom guides might be differently formed and other forms of bottom structure might be shaped to givea proper conveyer surface and also the hump relied upon to elevate the ends ofadjacent cases, hereinafter more fully set forth. These side memberslO and bottom strips 18 form ajpassageway or runway for the cases 19.

In service the cases are placed end to end upon the conveyer and they travel in this relative position in the direction indicated by the arrows in several figures. When so traveling the cases engage thetop edges of the guides 18 and at the same time are kept in the confines of the conveyer passageway by'the side members 10. The latter have eX tensions 1O which raise the sides of the conveyer channel at a point about a case length from its end, the point where the ends of the firsttwo cases are to be separated.

' The conveyer chain 20 is in structure similar to the chain illustrated in my aforesaid patent but preferably has shorter links. 7 The upper case-engaging surfaces of the links are rounded. These rounded upper surfaces extend slightly above 'a horizontal plane through the upper edges of the guides 18; at least this is true for the greater portion. of the length of the conveyer. As we shall see, when the cases approach the stop position,

this relation changes and the guides rise to a higher level.

' The conveyer chain 20 passes over a sprocket wheel 21 having its shaft 22 journaled in bearings 23 formed in the upper ends of brackets 24 supported upon one of the U- shaped members 11 and secured thereto by bolts 25 or other suitablemeans. The upper stretch of the chain 20 is carried along a strip or bar, preferably a channel. bar 26, supported at intervals by cross members 27 In like manner the lower stretch of the channel 20 travels along a similar bar 28 supported by the horizontal portions of the members 11. The sprocket wheel 21 is shown as a guiding wheel but obviously it might be a driving wheel for'the chain; or yet another wheel, orwheels, not shown, might serve this purpose. Indeed any desired driving arrangement for the chain may be employed.

At the extreme delivery end of the conveyer is a stop roller 29 having a central shaft 30 which is journaled in bearings formed in the side members 10 or in lieu of the bearings the shaft 30 may simply extend through openings in these side members. The shaft or rod 30 is held in place by end nuts 31. The roller 29 is free to rotate. This may be accomplished by having the roller 29 secured to the rod 30 and having the latter rotate in the bearings in the side members 10 or the rod 30 may be held firmly and the bore through the roller 29 made large enough to allow the roller to rotate upon the rod. In lieu of the rotating roller 29, I may employ a fixed stop member 32 which may take the form illustrated in Fig. 3, that is to say, to have a rounded upper surface similar to that of the roller and be provided at its ends with flanges 33 apertured for securing bolts 34 by which the stop bar may be secured to the side members 10.

Since in the conveyer proper the cases are engaged by the links of the chain 20 as the latter travels. along, they will be carried along just as in the conveyer of my prior patent. With such construction it is possible to hold'one of the cases 19 without stopping the chain 20. In such event the chain will merely slip along under the case. However, should the hold upon the case be released, then the friction between the case and'the' chain will be suflicient. to cause the chain to drag the case forward. w

In the embodiment illustrated, the cases 19 may be shoved along over the guides 18 by the chain 20 until the front endof the foremost case 19 engages the stop 29. In such event the second case 19 will press against the first and the third against the second and so on, the rear-most cases being acted upon by the conveyer chain 20. Asshown, the cases 19 are provided with apertures 35 through which the fingers of an attendant may be thrust for the purpose of grasping the ca e to lift it. Since these cases are also intended for hottles they are also provided with longitudinal and transverse partitions 36 and 37 as is common in articles of this sort. If'I examine the ends of the second and third cases 19, as

the parts appear in Fig. 8, for example, I see j 0nd and third cases 19. Since the chain is constantly dragging upon the cases 19 in this part of the conveyer, it would not be possible to readily separate these cases at this point so as to make it possible to use the hand holds.

However, if I pass to'the point between the first and second cases 19, I find that their adjacent ends are separated near the top so that the hand-holds are free to be used. In that case the separation of the ends'of the cases is brought about by elevating the guides 18 so as to produce a hump or summit 38 over which the cases pass. On one side of the summit is an incline downward toward the chain 20, and on the other side of the summit is a similar incline downward toward the stop 29. Because of these opposite inclinations, the adjacent ends of the two cases, meeting at the summit, are angularly disposed, the ends contacting where they engage the guides and be ing some distance apart at the tops. It w1ll be noted that the summits 38 of the guides 18 are distant from the stop 29a distance equal 1 to the length of one case 19.

In operation the drag of the chain will be sufficient to force the cases up over the humps 38 and bring the foremost case into contact with the stop. When a case reaches this position, it can be readily grasped by the at-. tendant and lifted from the conveyer. l/V here the stop is the rotatable roller 29, the upward manual pull upon the case will meet with little resistance on the part of the stop as the latter will turn under the pull and make the removal of the case from the conveyer easy. As soon as one case is thus removed a second case will. be forced up against the stop and again the humps 38 upon the guides 18 will separate the adjacent ends of the first two cases just asbefore leaving the foremost to be removed in the manner just explained. In case the fixed stop 32 is used, the resistance to the removal of the first case may be a little greater but it is obvious that with a stop of metal or like material, well rounded, the forward edge of the case will slip readily over the curved surface of the stop as the case is being elevated.

In the form of the invention illustrated in Fig. l, the conveyer is a terminal conveyer and the cases removed are placed on a platform or otherwise disposed of. Instead of placing them upon a platform, another con- 'veyer might be arranged just beyond the roller 29 and the cases might be placed upon this other conveyer. Such an arrangement is shown in Fig. i. There the conveyer chain 20 is shown in association with the sprocket wheel 21 and a second like conveyer 39 is shown in association with a sprocket wheel 40. In this instance the second c011- veyer chain 39 is associated with guides 41 which are horizontal and serve to cooperrangements.

29 and the upper stretch of the chain 4-2.

Similar guides a3 would be associated with the same stretch of the chain beyond the stop roller-29.

These diagrammatic views give some idea of the possibilities in applying the present invention to different conveyer arrangements and it will be obvious that the invention may be applied to many different conveyer ar- I therefore do not wish to be limited to the exact arrangements disclosed, nor do I wish to be limited to the various details of this disclosure, but I aim to cover by the terms of the appended claims all those adaptations and modifications which rightly come within the scope of my invention.

IVhat'I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

, 1. A conveyer stop mechanism comprising in combination with a conveyer chain for ad'- vancing articles carried thereby, a stop roller against which the foremost of said articles is pressed through the action of said chain upon following articles, and guides for engaging said articles from beneath as they are i acted upon by said chain, said guides being elevated at a point a short distance from said roller and terminating adjacent to said roller at a level low enough to all-ow said roller to act as a stop for articles advanced along said guides.

2. A conveyer stop mechanism comprising 7 in combination with a conveyer chain for advancing box-like cases having hand holds in their ends, a stop against which the fore most of a series of said cases under the action of said chain may be crowded, and

guides for elevating the adjacent ends of the foremost two cases of the series while leaving their opposite ends at a lower level, the foremost case being-at such time in contact with said stop, whereby the hand-holds of said foremost case may be readily used by the hands of the-operator to remove said foremost case from the conveyer.

3. A conveyer stop mechanism comprising in combination'with' a conveyer chain for advancingbox-likecases having handholds in their ends, a stop roller for enga ing the forward end of the foremost of a series of said cases fed on by said chain, and guides for engaging said cases as they are being acted upon by said chain, said guides being elevated at a point in saidconveyer distant a case length from said roller to an elevation above that of the axis of said roller,

while at a point adjacent to said roller said guides terminate at a level below that of said axis, and at a point two case lengths from said roller said guides are on a level below that of the point one case length from said roller whereby the hand-holds of the foremost case may be readily grasped to remove the case from the conveyer.

4. A conveyer stop mechanism comprising in combination with a conveyer chain for ad vancing articles carried thereby; a rigid stop against which the foremost of said articles is pressed through the action of said chain upon following articles, guides for engaging articles from beneath as they are acted upon by said chain, said guides being elevat-ed at a point a short distance from said step and terminating adjacent to said stop at a level low enough to allow said stop to act upon articles advanced along said guides.

5. A conveyer stop mechanism comprising in combination with a conveyer chainfor advancing box-like cases having hand-holds in their ends, a fixed stop against which tile foremost of said cases has its lower forward end pressed through the action of said chain upon following'cases, and guides for supporting said cases as they are acted upon by said chain said guides being elevated at a point a case length from said stop to its highest elevation, while at a point adjacent to said roller said guides terminate at a level below that the top of said stop, and at apoint two case lengths from said roller said guides are on a level below said highest elevation, whereby the hand-holds of the foremost case i may be readily grasped to remove the case from the conveyer. v

6. A conveyer stop mechanism comprising in combination with chain-conveyer means advancing arti les to and beyond a stop position a stop roller against which the foremost of said articles is pressed through "l e action of said means upon following articles to hold said foremost article in said stop position, and guides for engaging said articles fr n beneath as they are acted upon d means, said guides being located on 7 he incoming and outgoing sides of said stoproller substantially the same level except that they are elevated at a point a short distance from said roller on the incoming side thereof and adjacentto said stop roller on said incoming side are low enough to allow said roller to act as a stop for articles advanced along said guides and to form an ction support for articles placed there- 7 on and on said outgoing conveying means.

7 7. A conveyer stop mechanism comprising in combination with chain-conveyer means for advancing box-like cases having handholds in their ends to and beyond a stop position, a stop roller for engaging the forward end of the foremost of a series of said'cases fed along bysaid means on the incoming side of said stop roller,.said stop roller serving to hold said foremost'case in said stop position, and guides for engaging said cases from beneath as they are being acted upon by said means, said guides being positioned on both the incoming and outgoing sides of said stop roller and being elevated at a point on the incoming side thereof distant a case length from said stop roller, to an elevation above the axis of said roller, while at a point adjacent to said roller on the incoming side thereof said guides have an elevation below that of said axis, and at a point two case lengths from' said roller on the same side thereof said guides are on a level below that of the point one case length from said roller and on the outgoing side of said roller said guides approach closely to said roller and have an elevation below that of said roller,

,whereby the hand-holds of the case in said 

